Kidnapped by the Past (everyone welcome)

Ayumu was sat on the street, getting a little bit of money selling her ice ornaments as she sometimes did with her cat sat next to her, a cloaked figure saw Ayumu and smirked 'so this is what she's been doing... pitiful experiment...her powers must still be incomplete otherwise she wouldn't be selling such useless trinkets from her powers' the figure thought as it walked up to Ayumu "such nice things" the figure said "here, I don't have any money but please take this" he said, handing Ayumu a snow-woman doll that seemed to be all knitted together with a few stitches around the shoulders.

"Oh uhh...thank you..." said Ayumu, a little confused "please, choose which ever one you like" she added, referring to the different ice ornaments, the figure picked up one of the ornaments then walked off, crushing it in his hand when he was out of sight.

Once Ayumu had finished getting enough money she melted the ornaments then started walking towards the SVR base, placing the doll on her bed before she started watching some TV, the doll suddenly started to emit some-kind of knockout gas from under the stitches which caused Ayumu to fall from her chair and become unconscious, the figure had stalked her to the base and was easily able to climb up to the window and take Ayumu with him, putting her over his shoulder, as soon as Ayumu had been knocked out Shou disappeared, having no stable connection with her mind, a note also being put in the middle of the room.

About an hour later Annie flew up to the window, since Ayumu would usually give her a bit of food since Annie couldn't really do anything with her powers so Ayumu had befriended her while living on the streets and the two had become close friends. "Hey Ayumu! You got any cereal or anything? I'm a bit peckish for some Lucky Charms" she said with a smile as she climbed through the open window, thinking it was a little odd since she usually kept her window closed and thus Annie usually had to knock.

Annie sniffed the air, the majority of the knockout gas having gone but it still made Annie still felt a little dizzy, she then noticed the note and read it, it read "I have taken back what is mine, my unfinished experiment, the girl, she must be completed" the note had simply been signed "Her father"...Annie froze, Ayumu had told her what she could remember about her childhood, and it wasn't good, she looked around and thought for a few moments before running around the base "Steampunk! Mr Steampunk! Ayumu has been kidnapped!" she yelled 'I've gotta find someone to help...' she thought, not knowing if Steampunk was even in the base or not.

Annie then quickly flew out of the window to the comic book store that Nina worked at, thankfully Nina was at the counter and Annie told her what had happened and showed her the note, Nina decided to contact who she knew at HIVE, telling those who she knew about the situation then told one of the other comic book store employees that she had an emergency she had to take care of, she didn't really want any of the Titans finding out since she knew bringing good guys into a situation with bad guys like her and Ayumu would probably turn out badly, unfortunately neutral metas weren't exactly the ones to give out contact details.

Annie and Nina then started to patrol the city, Nina in her fox form checking the alleyways and Annie searching from above.

Bow was geeking at the Comic Book Store when the commotion happened. She overheard Annie tell Nina what she had read about Ayumu. Isn't she the one I talked to at that party? I liked her! Bow went up to Nina and waited until she was done contacting the HIVE.

"Hi, I'm Rainbow. I don't know if you remember me from the party, but I couldn't help but hear your conversation. I'd really like to help find Ayumu. How can I be of service?" Bow hoped that just because she was labeled "good" wouldn't deter Nina from letting her rescue a friend.

Nina looked to Bow and sighed "ok then, as long as you don't tell any of your friends, we need to find Ayumu as fast as we can, we can't risk having good and bad fighting with each other, that'll just waste time" she said before she thought for a few minutes "you can patrol the ground, try ask people if they've seen anything suspicious, Annie thinks that Ayumu might have been knocked out with gas so try ask people if they saw a guy carrying a girl or anything, heck, even any suspicious cars outside warehouses or anything, he'll be wanting to bring her back to the main lab in Japan so they'll have to be held up somewhere for now" said Nina, becoming very worried about her friend.

Meanwhile Ayumu slowly woke up, orange lights glaring at her and the sudden stench of sewer water making her gag a little, she then found herself seemingly tied to a chair with cloth tied around her mouth "so you're finally awake, its about time" said the man in front of her, the man had black spiked hair and wore a brown suit "do you remember me? I expect you've blocked my appearance from your mind but no matter, you'll be back home in the lab where you belong soon enough" he said, Ayumu glared at him, she couldn't recognize his face but his voice she recognized a little more, she knew who it was, she just couldn't believe he had found her after so many years, the fact he had been trying to track her down this whole time scared her a little "soon you will be the complete, ultimate meta-human, you'll be able to take down the strongest with a single command" said the man, Ayumu couldn't do anything but sit there, feeling helpless and knowing he'd just catch her if she tried to escape

"Understood." I don't have many friends anyway... Really... She set to work. She asked everyone she came in contact with. Have you seen anything suspicious? A car outside an abandoned warehouse? A man with a girl on his shoulder? Anyone wearing a gas mask? Etc. She kept doing this and would keep it up until either something came up or, Nina told her to stop.

Nina looked around the alleyways and sniffed the air, trying to pick up Ayumu's scent, walking past a manhole cover and froze, starting to sniff madly at it then turned to her human form and got out her cell phone "Annie, tell Bow I've picked up Ayumu's scent, it seems that he's brought her into the sewers" she said "ok then where are you?" asked Annie "uhh...on Boulevard Avenue, right next to the sign" replied Nina, Annie then quickly looking around for Bow and then landed next to Bow "Nina thinks Ayumu might have been taken to the sewers, we've got to hurry to Boulevard Avenue" she told Bow, staying in case she needed Annie to fly her there.

Back in the sewers Ayumu was staring as the man talked, he sure did love himself that was for sure, she didn't doubt that Nina and Annie would try to save her, but she just worried they might be a too late, she then started to try and freeze the ropes, suddenly screaming in pain "ah ah ah, you think I'm so stupid to just use normal ropes? No no those are thermal ropes, the colder you make them, the hotter they burn" said the man with a smirk, he was clearly enjoying the situation as Ayumu winced at her now burned wrists, the man then picked up a scanning type of object and passed it over Ayumu "hm, it seems there's a lot to finish, you haven't even come close to controlling your true potential in ice, meaning when you get upset your powers will completely go bazerk, your psychic powers too...hmm that's the one you ran out in the middle of, I believe it was psychic projection yes?"

Ayumu froze when he said that she had psychic powers "oh you didn't know? How humorous, you thought that pet cat you had was real? Nonsense, just your untrained psychic projection that's all, a mere figment of your imagination, nothing more" said the man in an uncaring tone, Ayumu's eyes started to well up 'no...he isn't fake....he's real...Shou is real....he's as real as any other animal' she thought as tears started to run down her cheek.

Bow had asked about 20 strangers with no luck, if anything they thought she was suspicious with her pink hair and bright purple eyes. Annie came over and told her the news. She just stood there and Bow knew she could fly. Oh... haha she doesn't know I can fly... Channeling every bit of love in every fiber of her being she launched herself into the air. "Well then, let's go!" *giggle* And they set off together.

When they got to Nina and Bow saw that at least one of them would have to go down into the sewer she volunteered to be in lead. "I can light up a five foot radius. It may be helpful." then she focused her happiness into a light source concentrated to her hands and then let it explode into the glow she was talking about. Then let it dissipate to conserve energy. "Unless, of course, if wither of you have another idea?" Being completely serious and in no way condescending.

Eric was riding around on his motorcycle, thinking about Paige and when she'll be back. He finally got her back and once again, she leaves him. Next time when she comes back, he'll make sure she'll never has to leave again!

Eric heard some people talk about a girl with pink hair and purple eyes. Eric simply smiled. " Bow" Eric said under his bike helmet, still smiling. He ripped around the corner and set off in speed. He saw three girls standing there by a sewer drain. He didn't recognize two of them but he did recognize Bow. He jerked to a stop next to them and took of his helmet. " Hey Bow, you guys on a scavenger hunt? Because last time I checked pretty girls don't crawl in sewers unless there's a prize." Eric implied to all the girls.

Annie looked to Eric and rolled her eyes "we're trying to look for our friend, she's been kidnapped by her father who wants to continue the painful experiments that he started on her when she was 5 years old" she explained, Nina just looking to Bow "you can lead the way, I'll use my fox form to try and pick up Ayumu's scent so we don't get lost" she said in a calm but serious tone, she knew secret labs like Ayumu's father's existed, her mother told her that along her many travels she had come across such a lab, the constant screaming and sounds of torture still haunted Nina's mother to the present day, she regretted just running away but had prayed to the gods to keep the innocents inside safe.

Nina then turned into her fox form, not looking forward to the amplified smell of the sewers but it was the only way they'd be able to track down Ayumu.

Ayumu sat, tied to the chair, tears streaming down her pale cheeks and the burns around her wrist still hurting "I suppose you also didn't know about how your mother really died then, heh, do you even remember your older brother? Yuukan? He must be 20...21 by now? He and your mother were fools to try and protect you, but of course Yuukan, even at 10 years old, true to the meaning of his name, he was brave, and he stood up to protect you and your mother...even held a sword against my throat, but once I showed him I would persist in my attempts to get you he volunteered in your place, but just as you did...he managed to escape, but that time it was down to my own foolish researcher's fault, being unable to restrain him when taking him from the holding cell to the testing lab" explained Ayumu's father, Ayumu's eyes tearing up even more...she had an older brother?....He escaped too?....Where could he be?...Is he ok?....These questions ran through Ayumu's mind as parts of her memory seemed to unlock themselves and come back to her.

Bow looked at Eric and smiled, but only for a split second. Once Nina started to talk it was all business. "I'm going to have to climb down the ladder before lighting up the place... It takes more concentration than I'd like to admit..." *half smile* with that she climbed down the sewer. It took all she had to find her happy in the midst of the deep, dark, dank sewer but, she managed. "Alright guys, come on down!"

"Do we really need to go over all this drama? As much as the detailed copies of your reseach notes and findings is a tempting enough prize for me to offer you my support, I can't abide monologing." A voice that could easily have been the vocal embodiment of neutality spoke out calmly from the shadows of the sewer tunnel.

The voice was followed by what appeared at first glance as a human body. The subject was clearly male, in his late twenties with untidy black hair and strange red eyes that seemed to glow due to the lighting. The lack of light made telling what color skin he had impossible but it was quite clear he was wearing a rather fetching all purpose suit. He could have been planning to attend either a wedding, a funeral or anything inbetween after this little meeting was over and he would certainly look the part.

His face clearly showed mild annoyance.

"Keith, I have provided you with enough support to get your operation up and running, gave you enough information to avoid discovery by the authorities and even told you the location of your so called 'Offspring'. I would consider it a good step in our business relationship if you were to quit being an egotisical twat for a moment and get down to business."

One of Keith's eyes twiched at the useage of his true name. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me by that name?!"

"I'll stop calling you Keith when you finally bother going and getting it legally changed, Keith. Now stop changing the subject and get back to business. " Was all the red eyed man said before leaning against one of the sewer's walls, waiting for events to unfold.

Nina looked to Annie and Eric then climbed down the ladder, Annie following her, once Nina reached the bottom she transformed into her fox form and looked at Bow before sniffing the air "ugh...this stench is making it difficult to pinpoint her, but as far as I can tell it should be straight ahead for now, maybe a few lefts and rights, I can't tell from this far away" the fox said as she stood next to Bow.

Ayumu looked to the figure before she bit the cloth that was gagging her, channeling her power through her teeth and turning the cloth to ice then biting down on the icy cloth that broke apart "ow ow ow sensitive teeth" she said in pain before she looked to her father "and my mother...what happened to her...WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER YOU MONSTER!" she screamed as Keith looked back to Ayumu and smirked "lets just say...once she got in my way...trying to protect you...I went into my secret stash...you didn't really think she died from a natural illness did you? Oh no no no, it was one of my failed serums you see, once she was gone I could finally get to you" he said with a dark chuckle before Keith turned his attention back to the man "there, I've told her everything now, its about time she stopped living in that fantasy world of hers, once we get onto the boat and back to the lab in Japan you will be rewarded greatly for your efforts" he said, Ayumu's eyes were now full of rage, cold, icy, rage.

She looked at Nina in her fox form as she nodded. "Alright. Let's go." She set off in a straight path and tried to not think about the rotten stench attacking her nose. She couldn't afford to reach up and plug it and risk her light faltering. It was dark. Besides her light you couldn't see your hand in front of your nose. She persevered. She was still hopeful that they would make it in time and that hope was driving her light.

Nina walked next to Bow, trying her best to keep track of Ayumu's scent, telling Bow when the scent lead left or right, she hoped that they could find Ayumu in time, Annie followed at the back, her wings having transformed to smaller wings which allowed her to seemingly float over the sewer water without making too much noise, she didn't really want to put her almost bare feet into the water.

Ayumu sat glaring at Keith before something clicked in her head and her memories became complete "wait a minute...you're not my father...you're one of the scientists that lead the experiments, telling the other scientists what to do through the speakers...no wonder I only recognize your voice, I never saw your face to begin with!" she said as Keith looked to her "I figure you remember everything now then, well there goes the ruse I guess, but no matter, you really want to know about your father? Heh your real one tried to protect your village when we scientists moved in, yes, that's right, your father was just a weakling who tried to stand up against out might, him along with a few other villages, but they stood no chance against us, that's when we started taking "guinea pigs" for our experiments, all of the village's children, you were going to be the successful experiment, and you still will be" he said with a smirk.

At that moment Ayumu's eyes glazed an icy, cold, emptiness before she screamed, frost starting to surround the floor where her feet were, the frost spreading all over the floor as her hands started to freeze, the ropes began to take their use but Ayumu just tried to overpower them and eventually broke them, Keith now looking very scared "damn it! Do something!" he said as he looked to the man while Ayumu froze the ropes around her feet and then stood up, her wrists and ankles having sever burns around them but her pain just increased her anger, slowly walking towards Keith with the frost appearing around her feet with every footstep, her hair now covering her face like something from The Grudge or The Ring, her ballet slippers also slipping off as the ropes had burned through the ribbons that held them on along with her socks, giving her only a pair of ankle socks followed by a gap then the other half of her socks running up to her knees, Keith looked terrified.

"Damn it, do something!"

Just as the red eyed man was opening his mouth to answer, his cellphone began to ring.

"If you could all just be quiet for a second, I have to take this." Was all the man said before reaching into his left pants pocket and withdrawing a cellphone. Flipping it open, he smiled as he said "Hey mate, what's up?... So soon?... Really?... Well how about that then. Just one moment... "

Almost as if it was an abstract second thought, the man reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a 9MM pistol before pointing it towards Keith's left knee and pulling the trigger, destroying the joint in a spray of bone and blood and sending Keith screaming to the floor. "Thanks for telling me. Be sure to tell your lovely wife I said hi. See ya." Pressing a button on his phone and flipping it shut again, the red eyed man smiled as he looked towards the ice user and said with total honesty " Sorry about that. Just learning that my people have hacked Keith's data servers and copied everything before deleting it. Since the deal between us was that I merely told him your location in exchange for his data I can safely say that our deal is complete and anything you wish to do to him is completely between the two of you and clearly none of my business. Have a fun evening. "

Without another word, the still nameless red eyed male simply walked out of the light of the room and into the shadows, vanishing out of sight pretty fast

Nina's ears twitched as she heard Ayumu's scream then ran off into the darkness, being able to see slightly through the darkness "c'mon quick she's this way!" she yelled, the patter of paws in the water being heard in front of the group.

Ayumu looked to where the man had been then nodded "thanks..." she uttered before she looked back to Keith "this is for all the pain you caused me, my family and my friends" she said before slamming Keith against the wall, he then being stuck there by the ice that was slowly encasing his body, her ice then encased her hands as the ice formed very sharp spikes before she rammed the spikes into Keith's body and he screamed in pain followed by the spikes spreading the ice to his insides and he soon became limp, Nina running even faster at the second scream.

Ayumu then stood back as the ice started to slowly recede and the frost started to melt, Ayumu then fell to her knees with the ice on her hands also melting, Ayumu then falling to the floor with exhaustion, Nina turning a corner into a slightly lit area, seeing Ayumu on the floor and the bloody Keith face down on the floor, Nina then looked over Ayumu for any injuries and looked at her wrists and ankles "lets hope Annie can heal these up without any scars..." she muttered sadly, very worried about her friend.